Red
by Everlasting Purple
Summary: Ron is the last wizard left alive.Tom is the changing point of the world. Harry is reduced to Fate's massager boy.And Dumbledore just doesn't know what to think. A darkish Ron with a humorish outlook on how life turned out,that is only a little twisted.
1. Red

I know I should not be posting another story when I have so many I need to work on, but couldn't stop myself writing it and once the first chapter is written I can't stop myself from posting it.

Besides even if it takes me a year to finish the story at least it should bring attention to my Ron Crusade. Look on my profile to see what that is.

Prologue

Red

The man had rather long unkempt red hair. It used to be an orange red, but now as if stained by the blood of his enemies it was a deeper brighter red, a bloody Gryffindor red. Ron Weasley had never hated that color more. He stood in a battle field and he waited wand steady for the next one, but they did not come.

He scanned the area at chest height for anymore attackers and as he pricked his ears for a familiar sound. He didn't hear it and his blood ran cold. After Hermione had died years ago, he and Harry had never fought apart. If Harry wasn't fighting at his side it was because they were guarding each other's backs. He couldn't hear Harry breathing. He knew before he turned around.

Harry Potter lay just behind Ron guarding his back in a pool of his own blood, quite dead. This time Ron did not scream. This time he did not see red and feel red until he destroyed everything around him until he was red. This time unlike with Hermione he sank to his knees and took inventory.

Hermione was dead long ago as was Bill, Charlie, the twins, Percy, Ginny, and his parents. With Harry's death there was no longer a reason to live. The the last reason he had to stay on this earth was in a broken heap by his side missing some body parts no doubt. Was there another to live? Was there a mission to accomplish? Was there, he thought of the long dead Headmaster, a greater good to accomplish? No. This was the last battle. The last battle of the last people on earth. It was over.

He remembered something Hermione said once. Quoting someone. About the dying in the last battle, of the last war, from the last bullet. Something about how that was how true warriors wanted to go.

Ron smiled.

"You did that then. You won and got to home to them… What about the last man alive from the last battle, from the last war, on earth. What about him Harry. I get to die a coward's death then? No you would never think that of me. I'm sure no one will be anger at me. I'm sure no one will mind if I come with you just a little early."

"You should have waited you know. You should have waited for me to see you about to go and we could have gone together. Now I guess I'll to catch up."

He didn't use his wand. He used a knife and he slit his throat. As he went he tasted his own blood. As he left he left in red.


	2. Indigo

Indigo

It was that dark deep blue. Indigo was the darken rainy sky. Not pouring the rain just a drizzle.

Ron was outside an orphanage in a muggle city frowning at the unwelcoming orphanage gates. He wouldn't go in. Not now and well perhaps never. He was here to see and hear. To ground himself. Yes he was really here, had been sent here in fact by the ever powerful forces that be apparently. At least that's what Harry had said if it really was Harry that he had meet on the hillside overlooking his parent's house, which had been burned down long ago. He had meet Harry in that space between life and death. According to Harry the beings, whatever they were for they did not answer to human terms and like Harry he was hesitant calling them gods, so the _beings _had not planned on the wizarding race dying off. Ron felt this was their own fault for not paying attention until it was too late to turn things around.

Apparently it fell to the last wizard to die to stop his race from dying. It wasn't the smartest way to chose someone, but what did you expect from powerful being that were so full of themselves it took them almost hundred years to realize the world was heading to destruction.

Harry said he would try to help from where he was at. This seemed to involve persuading some of the beings to help him along the way. Ron wasn't sure how they would do this, but apparently he had already been given a _gift_. It seemed that two of the beings were very fond of Harry, meaning they had happy medaled in his life a lot and Harry had named them Fate and Luck which even though they controlled more things than just Fate or Luck hadn't minded being named that.

Ron had to meet with them to receive his gift and he had found the whole thing unnerving as Fate spent its time bemoaning human concepts and how hard it was to communicate with such close minded creatures. Luck on the other hand had seemed bubbly. Very excited and had gazed at Ron a little like someone seeing fresh meat.

Ron had concluded that they had given him Harry's dumb luck, Harry's dumb dying disability, and something they had never allowed Harry to have, the ability to shield his mind. All in all this was a very good thing. Except the dumb luck bit. Harry truly had gotten in to the weirdest situations know to man, of course he had also gotten out of them, however Ron had thought that was because of Harry's dying disability. The ability to stay alive no matter what. Of course his time had come right before Ron's, but apparently they had taken away that ability during the last fight. To make things fair. Right…

Yes Ron was certain he could not die until he failed or succeeded his mission. Trying to kill himself would mostly result in some humorish and painful situations. Of course if he failed they would probably make him do it again, though they might give Harry a shot at it instead. Who knows with those 'things'?

He shook his head, causing water to be thrown onto the sidewalk from his hair. His mum would have said he needed a haircut; it wasn't as long as Charlie's had been, but still… A window opened and a hand stretched out to touch the water. Perhaps he was capable of the childish urge to taste or feel rain or perhaps he wanted to make it into ice shards to slit the other children's throats with. The boy's eyes looked straight at him. Hello Harry's dumb luck. Hello Tom.


	3. Pink

( Come on can't I get a review from anyone? What age do you want Tom to be?)

Pink

Ron locked eyes with the boy and he become very aware of the moment. This was where he could make a first impression on the boy if he wanted to. This was an opportunity. An idea occurred to him and with it a hint of a plan. He deiced to borrow a spell off of an old enemy that had enjoyed taunting his best friend in potion's class.

First he conjured parchment and used an umbrella charm to keep the water away. He quickly wrote with another spell using his wand which was tricky, a very short note. He looked up at Tom for he was certain somehow that he was Tom, and saw he was still there watching him. He couldn't tell how old the boy was. If he hadn't got to Hogwarts yet this would seem very strange, of course if he had it would still be strange, but… But nothing, his age didn't really matter.

Using a spell he had seen Draco Malfoy perform more than once he flicked his wand in a neat little pattern and the paper folded into an origami crane. Then he charmed it against the water and wind and sent it to Tom Riddle. He apparated shortly afterward wondering if it had been the right thing to bring attention to himself so early.

He found himself just outside the forest of Dean where the three of them had once had a long camping trip on a hunt for horcuxs. It was as good a place to think as any. He would need money and food first. He would need plans and important papers. He would need not only shelter, but a grand house. He would need to ensnare the future dark lord. Everything must be perfect and ironclad if he was to save the world.

The sky turned pink as morning came upon the orphanage, a boy read a letter by the dawns first light.

_Hello Tom, _

_I will introduce myself properly some other time. For now you should know two things. The first is that you are even more important then you realize and the second is that we will meet again._

_Farewell Tom Riddle, may you succeed in all of your endeavors, but may you also choose those endeavors wisely._


	4. Brown

Brown

Where else would be apperate to, but to the Forest of Dean? It wasn't a thought out decision on his part it was just the first place he thought much like it had been the first place Hermione had thought of. He breathed in the scent of the forest remembering that long and hard camping trip. Looking back they should have just accioed money from muggles and gotten a hotel. If they didn't say the taboo word they would have never been found among muggles.

Now that was an idea…an immoral one, but seeing as most if not all of the muggles needed to die anyway there was no reason why he shouldn't steal muggle money, turn it into gallons at Gringotts, and then…well he supposed he should buy a house. No a manor. Something grand that would appeal to a future dark lord. Only not he thought with a scornful frown, with basted peacocks like the damn Malfoys.

Thinking of the Malfoys however reminded him that he would most likely have to deal with the "pureblood elite" a lot if this was going to work. Oh goody. He would need some books on manors and the like, for he seemed to have a gift for insulting the snobby weak minded people of society. Just the thought of sucking up to Malfoys great grandfather or whatever relative it was in this time made him sick.

He shudder once in disgust and then again from the cold. He hadn't realized that it was so chilly out. It must be winter then or close to it. Yes he could see that most of the leaves had fallen from the trees some time ago leaving a dull brown color. A brown with no warmth. Hermione's hair had been brown; it was such a beautiful color back then.

Well there was nothing for it, but to head into a muggle town and see what happens when you say accio money. It might not work for some reason and if so he would have to try his hand at pick pocketing.


	5. Grey

Review. Becuase its not hard and it will make me write more and faster.

I picked an age for Tom, however it could be years before he meets Ron again so you still can't be certain what kind of relationship I'm going to have them have.

Grey

He had lived a long time in a box. A grey, unwelcoming box with inferior people. People that did not deserve to lick the dirt on his worn out shoes. Few things happened in the box that held any real interest to him. There was hunger often and there was cold in the winter and heat in the summer. There were children everywhere. Dirty and stupid children. Sometimes he would hurt the children so as to gain some enjoyment in this miserable existent.

It did not seem to matter that he was a child too, for he was only young in body. He understood weakness and he understood survival. At 10 almost only 11 years of age his main goal and ambition was something along the lines of survival and destroying them all. Humans so weak and pointless. Oh he had tried once, years ago to tolerate them, but they grew more and more distasteful every day. He dreamed of their blood at night.

However back to the matter at hand. The box did not give much for an intelligent mind. There was never anything new, interesting, or elating happening while he was here, until of course he received a note from a mysterious figure. A note that he hated to admit gave him perhaps some hope for the future. At the very least it gave him something to turn his brilliant mind to besides the pros and cons of burning the orphanage down with the worthless people inside it.

The letter started with an, _Hello Tom. _Meaning it was to him andfor him and someone knew him. The childish thoughts of family coming for him had been lost long ago. If he did have any family that knew where he was and was not moving to remove him from this hell on earth at the very second they found him, then they were dead to him and would be dead from his hands one day.

Next came,_ I will introduce myself properly some other time. For now you should know two things. The first is that you are even more important then you realize and the second is that we will meet again. _This person refused to declare themselves so they must have a reason for not giving their name. Tom would acknowledge that the next line made him absurdly happy, if for no other reason than that no one else had ever realized to his knowledge that he was important. In the box he was just one of the poor orphaned children to the caretakers even if they were learning to fear him. But more important then he realized, what could that mean? There must be something that this person knew that he didn't. As for the last bit of that sentence only time would tell if the person kept their promise.

The very last sentence made the least amount of sense.

_Farewell Tom Riddle, may you succeed in all of your endeavors, but may you also choose those endeavors wisely._

Wishing him to succeed, but to be mindful of what he succeed in. How very strange. He wondered what the mysterious figure had ment.


	6. Bronze

Oh come on! I have how many chapters and 1 review? Who thinks this is fair?

I know my chapters are short, but that means I can make a lot of them in a very short time and it makes me move the plot faster.

How about this I'll write and post a new chapter the day I get a review. It takes me what half an hour to make these chapters? I can post whenever I feel like it or I can post whenever I get a review. Your choice.

Bronze

There was nothing as easy as being a wizarding pick pocket. One disillusion charm and some fast fingers or the accio spell while standing close to the victim. Now in a muggle London that was in a war or almost in a war or there was a time around now that the muggles were fighting about something, anyway Ron was not finding a boom economy or booming pockets in most areas. However there would always be the rich feeding off the poor and he was after awhile able to find some fat, and stinking rich muggles about.

When his pockets were full he turned his attention to filling his stomach. After that he wasn't really certain what he should do. He certainly didn't have enough money to buy even the crappest of houses. What he needed was to use the little money he could steel and turn into more money. A pity he couldn't make more of it with magic…Because everyone knew you couldn't do that…with Galleons. Because he would be caught, even though muggle rights were very low at this point and how would they ever know? And something about the muggle economy, which didn't matter because he wanted the muggles dead.

Huh. Well that should take care of that. He could make a large amount of muggle money and buy a very nice muggle house. Goblins might know he made the muggle money so he couldn't just take it to them to exchange for Galleons, but he could buy gold and gems with muggle money and change that for Galleons until he had enough for a wizarding manor. Actually if he had even a few Galleons he could become rich with the month.

Three words 'Betting' and 'Stock market'. There was nothing Ron was good at if he wasn't good with quidditch trivia. Who won the quidditch world cup for 8 straight years in the 1940's making it the largest winning strike of any team ever? Ron knew. That and so much more. Also stocks would be easy. There wasn't anyone who didn't at least slightly remember some brand names for everyday items. Like broom sticks for example. The nimbus would be a fine investment when it started up.

With that bright thought Ron rose from the café he had eaten at left to find a private place to make his fortune. Life was looking up. Going back to the Forest of Dean he found that the trees were not the dull brown he had seen in the early morning. Instead in the bright light of day they now shone a warm comforting bronze.


	7. Maple

Hello everyone! Today is my birthday so I wasn't able to check my stories until, however I see two new reviews so I shall now make two new chapters. I'm very happy I'm starting to get a few reviews here and there.

Maple

Ron's bed was large and soft was the lovely color of maple syrup. It was also in this bed that Ron was kept up at night with his thoughts. It was hard to believe he had been in the past a month even harder to think that things had gone pretty well. He had a very nice muggle manor, and muggle clothes, and lots of muggle money, and papers showing his glimmered face as a muggle named Ronald Williams, however that's were his progress had halted. He hadn't been able to go into the wizarding world yet for he had forgotten that the name Ron Weasley was no longer available to him. Yes he could pretend to be a muggleborn and make his life thousand times harder as he needed to get the respect of purebloods if he wanted to get anything done at all.

The fact was that, he needed a pureblood name from a pureblood family that no one would question and that he could legally or magically back up in some way. Now if he was Harry he would find himself related to some long lost respected pureblood family no doubt. There had been lots of rumors that the Potters were related to some kind of special line. There was however no such hope however with the Weasleys. Now if he was Hermione, he would be smart enough to fake everything. She would have picked a country few had ever heard of learned their language and costumes in two months tops and easily forged some documents conforming who her family was.

So it fell to this, what was Ron Weasley suppose to do? Yes that was the question he had been asking himself this past month. Err…? Well no matter, he would figure it out in the morning and with that he fell asleep. It was not a peaceful sleep however, he found himself dreaming of the Hogwarts quidditch stands empty except for one man at the very top of the stands. A man with messy hair, green eyes, and that look that he often wore when he knew something Ron didn't that may or may not be a good thing, which would somehow become Ron's problem.

"So mate how's the 1940's?" Harry asked casually when Ron took the set beside him.

Ron considered this for a moment.

"Considering what the place looked like when we died? It's awesome. Considering what it looked like when we were 11? It sucks."


	8. Green

4 reviews now so I need to make 2 more chapters as soon as I can. At the very least I can do 1 a day, but I'll try to do more as I did promise to post chapters at the same speed of my reviews.

Oh and do you like the little color things I'm doing with the titles or is it lame?

Green

When it hit him he almost fell off of the stands he was laughing so hard. It really wasn't that funny it was just the way Harry had worded it. Harry was explaining that he had been 'sent' to Ron's dream by the 'beings' to give assistance when needed. He had said something along the lines of Fate not leaving him alone even after death and this had completely set Ron off. He supposed the simple fact that it was Harry that made it so funny to think that he had gone from Fate's whipping boy to Fate's massager boy. When Ron pointed out that if the 'being' that was Fate was male Harry would so be his favorite Bitch he was reminded just how hard Harry could punch.

"If you're done being an idiot." Harry's eye twitched slightly. It seemed he was having a stressful afterlife and wasn't in the mood for Ron's humor.

"Right…Alright I'm good now. So is there a problem?"

"Yes, what you're about to do won't work."

"Err… And what am I about to do and how do you know what I'm about to do and how do you know it won't work?"

"_They_ know what you're about to do, now that_ they_ are actually paying attention to the timeline. It's like this there are a lot of possible futures and some of them will end up going well and some of them destroy the world. Now you were going to make yourself a fake identity that would have worked for a time, but after awhile someone would most likely find out it was fake. In some futures it was Tom and he felt very betrayed and become a royal pain in the arse. Dumbledore figured it out in a few and would rat you out of blackmail you and sometimes purebloods found out and tried to rule the world. In short there is a lot that could go wrong with what you were about to do so I'm here to tell you what to do instead of that."

"Oh. Okay. Glad _they_ are being useful then."

"So what you're going to do Ron is kidnap Tom's uncle."

Ron blinked and looked at Harry blankly.

"You know, the crazy one that nails snakes to doors" Said Harry helpfully.

"You sure you haven't lost it mate?"

"Positive. It really is a good plan."

"I hate when you say that."

Ron dropped his head dejectedly and stared at the bright green grass of the quidditch pitch. Harry had a plan. Even when his best mate was dead he still couldn't escape the dreaded **plans**. Dun Dun Dun…


	9. Maroon

Here are number 3 for the 3 reviews I got when I said I would write a new chapter for every review I got. So if I get another review I'll write another chapter tomorrow. If I don't then I'll write whenever I feel like it.

Please give me feedback. Not just that the story was good or bad. What did you like or not like about it?

Maroon

Ron had the feeling he had every time he was about to open another maroon Weasley sweater from his mother as he did when he was about to carry out one of Harry's plans. He knew what would happen, but he still felt odd about it. Harry always talked him into the stupidest of things. Now there was a plan that went along with kidnapping Tom's Uncle. It involved an illegal ritual with an illegal potion and a legal spell normally used for illegal bloods adoptions, but apparently could be used for this purpose. The plan thank god was not that he would become Morfin Gaunt.

If he killed the man and pretended to be him then he could be found out because he looked nothing like him and there would be people that had known Morfin. Instead what he was to do was go to Morfin's home, stun him, apperate away with him, take his blood and add it to the potion, do some delicate memory work so that he was willing to add him to the family as this had to be done willingly, have him perform the spell needed for the ritual, and last but not least either kill him or wipe all of his memory and take him to the hospital as his brother saying he didn't know what happened and then take care of the man when they said nothing could be done. The last bit didn't appeal to Ron, but it would be easier then trying to fake his' brothers' death some other way. Also he might be useful.

Ron would have to come up with a background and a reason for why he hadn't adopted Tom as soon as he had found him. What he was thinking at the moment was along the line of being home schooled and self taught magic and leaving at a young age unable to stand living in a pig pen. He had gone to the muggle world and had made money the way he had really had made money only he would tell most people he had worked in the muggle world. When he was doing well he had gone back home to bring his sister and brother to live with him only to find that Merope has run off with a muggle and his father was in jail. He wasn't sure if Morfin had also been in jail at this time it seemed like he had also spent some time with the dementors at one point. Ron would figure that out soon.

Anyway as the muggle is question was rich Ron hadn't worried about his sister until his owls could not reach her. He concluded she had died, but went to the Riddle house to find out what had happened. He had left quickly when he realized the man had left his sister and hated her because he was afraid he would kill the muggles if he stayed. He had no idea she had been with child. Ron would of course have to make the Riddle family's memories match this.

Ron wasn't sure how he would find out about Tom, but he knew he could only have found him recently. Perhaps he could fake a prophecy from someone or go with the 'truth' of being a time traveler were the world ended, then he could invent someway that Tom had found him the first time in the future. Ron had come back in time to fix everything and he had checked on his nephew to make sure he was alive and send him that note. He would have the memories to back up a time travel story to Tom. Either he needed to make sure the time line was the same or was afraid to change too much of the time line or he had things to do first so that he could save the world.

Well that was brilliant or hippogriff dung he wasn't sure which. It was so crazy it might just work. He did have Harry's luck now after all. While either way best get started to the first part of the plan. Getting his memory charms up to scratch using muggles. What? Just because he was in a war and could kick ass didn't mean he did noncombat fancy spell work on a daily basses. Wiping a mind was easy, but making this guy believe he wanted him to be his brother, would be a lot harder.


	10. Silver

Sliver

Two weeks later he was prepared. His spells were top notch, the potion was made, the room was ready, and all he was missing was Morfin himself. He hadn't just prepared for two weeks; with his background coming along nicely Ron had deiced to do the uncle thing the right way. It was freezing out lately and that orphanage didn't look like it had the thickest walls or a good heating system. So what if it was what his mother would have done? There were worst examples he could follow when dealing with a homicidal orphan. He sent Tom Riddle a Weasley sweater. He didn't knit it, but he transfigured a normal sweater so it would look like one. It was sliver and soft and he charmed it for warmth and protection. He included a small Slythrine crest at the top.

It was a stupid idea no doubt, but if he really did have a nephew in a place like that he would have been overcome with guilt and would have gone to rescue him as soon as he found out he was there. This he supposed was the best he could do for now. He sent it by owl with another origami note.

_So you don't freeze to death in that hell hole you're living at._

Perhaps he could blame Morfin? Say that Morfin didn't want anything to do with Tom because he was a half blood and maybe threaten never to speak to him again unless he at least waited to make sure he got into Hogwarts and in Slythrine? It felt weak to Ron. Most likely because his reaction to that would have been a strong 'fuck you!' if it was real.

Oh well it couldn't be helped right now. After double checking everything he turned to leave and saw that his owl was back with a note on its leg. Oh shit.

"You weren't supposed to let him respond!" He told the owl and took the note its leg.

_Who are you to care if I freeze to death? You know my name. What is yours? _

_ Thank you for the sweater._

Ron's eyebrows went up. He was surprised the boy thanked him thou he supposed he shouldn't be. The boy was charming and smart if someone gave him something he found useful or of value of course he would be polite if only to get more from whomever it was. He decided to answer 'honestly' the sooner Tom knew the sooner Tom could forgive him for not being there sooner.

_I'm a relative who would have adopted you years ago if I had known of your existence. As it is I cannot act right now. My name is Ronald Gaunt. I am your mother's brother._

_I will send the owl with you; you may write me if you have need of something._

He ordered the owl to stay with Tom and left to fetch Morfin.


	11. Black

Too new reviews so two new chapters coming up. I wonder how long I will be able to stay ahead of the reviews. I should refuse to write until the number is even, but I've already given my word to try and write a chapter within 24 hours of getting a new review. Oh well.

Black

He had a package. Delivered from an owl. He had never had a package before, but he was rather certain they were not supposed to come by owls. It was a beautiful owl with shiny black feathers. Tom had never seen an owl before. He reached his hand out hesitantly and the bird allowed him to touch the dark feathers. He tried to crush all childish amusement he felt from that action and turned to the package, but he couldn't help the excitement when he saw another origami note.

He had thought the stranger he saw two months ago had forgotten about him. It seemed he hadn't. He had gotten him something. It probably wasn't anything great, but he didn't receive gifts even on his birthday anymore after what he did to Ms Cole so even if it wasn't great it was still something new that was his. He didn't think beyond that as he reached for the package even though he would be annoyed with himself later for not reading the note first.

He would never admit he let out a small gasp when uncovered something silver and soft to the touch. He could feel heat coming from it which contrasted greatly with his cold room. He pulled it out and looked at it. It was a sweater. A thick beautiful sweater with a color that was rarely seen in the grey box Tom lived in. There was a small symbol of some sort at the top it was black and seemed to have a snake on it.

It was of batter material then anything he had ever had at the orphanage. It was better than anything any of those stupid children had. Tom smiled. He held the sweater close and basked in the warmth of it. He reached for the note before he put it on.

_So you don't freeze to death in that hell hole you're living at._

Why? Why would someone care enough to make sure he didn't die of hypothermia, but not care enough to get him out of here? He careful pulled on the sweater and groaned slightly as he was completely warm. It shouldn't have been this warm and it shouldn't warm his face, hands, and feet as well, but it did. The owl was still there and grabbing a pencil and some paper on his desk he swiftly wrote his own message. He doubted he would get any answers, but if he could start corresponding with anyone outside of this place it would be more then worth the paper he wrote on.

Yes he could have used the same paper the person had used, but he only had two notes anyone had ever written to him and he would guard them both greedily.


	12. Purple

Alright I'm caught up on reviews and chapters. Need another review to write faster!

Purple

Harry could have warned him that the man would attack with a knife. He hadn't even gotten a word out when the man decided he should be gutted. He moved as soon as he had seen the flash of steal. On the plus side his battle skills were still sharp, on the bad side so was that blade that had somehow ended up in Morfin's side. It wasn't his fault he was trained to kill. Of course he wasn't dead yet, but he would be if Ron didn't do thing about it and soon. Thank goodness for the need to learn medical spells. His wand glowed a soft purple as he began the healing spells.

It was while he was healing the stabbed muscle tissue that he got another owl. Tom certain wasn't wasting time. Ron wondered just how angry the boy would be that he had a relative that refused to tell him anything and that wouldn't take him away from the hell he was in. Of course putting it like that made him think of how Dumbledore treated Harry. He started at the letter; certain he would feel guilty when he read it. Family had always been a big deal in his family and that included fake nephews he was certain.

The man that tried to kill him groaned in pain and he remembered that he was in the middle of kidnapping someone and so he would read the letter later. He grabbed both man and owl and apparated to his new home. He searched Morfin for weapons and removed them and then he tied him up and then he left to answer the letter. Best just to get it over with.

_ Mr. Gaunt_

_How is it you didn't know about me before, but found out about me now? Now that you have found me why bother contacting me at all if you shall not get me out of here? Why should I believe you? You offer no proof you are my uncle._

_ Yes I have need of something. I have need to leave this place before I freeze or starve to death._

_ You say you would have taken me from here if you knew sooner. Why can you not act as you put it now?_

It wasn't as bad as it could be, but still… Starving. Why did he have to say he was starving and why did Ron believe that so easily. Again because Harry had been starving at his relatives also there was much poverty in this time. Most children at an orphanage would be almost starving. Certainly he wouldn't have said that if he wasn't hungry.

Lord he was channeling his mother wasn't he? He would write back before he broke into Morfin's mind and he would send him something to eat. He couldn't cook to save his life. He supposed he would buy something.

_Tom_

_ I am sorry both that I only found you recently and that I cannot come get you right now. Part of the reason I cannot involves my brother your other uncle Morfin, who is not sane, is living with me right now, and well he likes me and he still attacked me with a knife this morning. I am trying to find a way for him to regain his sanity, but at the moment that is not going so well. I'm sure life is not pleasant for you at the moment, but unless you are you being physically hurt I cannot justify bringing you into a home where my brother would try to kill you._

_ I am attempting to find alternate housing for Morfin, but I loathe the idea of putting my brother into any kind of institution and besides that housing is hard to find._

_ For proof I will only say that we are similar. I am right in saying you can do strange things yes? Control animals or make people hurt that hurt you? There are many people who can do that, but only one family that can speak the serpents tongue that I belief you can. Morfin is blessed with this ability. It is not as natural for me as it is him, but I am still passable in the language. You will be able to find proof of that in Diagon Ally. _

_ When you receive your Hogwarts letter, write to me and I shall either accompany you or send you extra money for it whichever you would rather. _

_ For now I can only send you things. Food, clothes, books if you like. I have a many a holiday to make up for. _

_ My most humblest apologies Tom, I'll come for you soon._

It was a long letter, but the more he thought of Harry the more he knew he couldn't write the boy off with a few cryptic words. Morfin was an excellent excuse and he even had the memory of him attacking with a knife. He could even tell Tom he was forced to wipe his memory to get rid of his insanity and that he did it for Tom.


	13. YellowGreen

Thank you for the reviews! I wonder how long it will take to run out of colors for titles. I'm glad someone said they thought Tom was in character when he received his gift. I am worried about keeping him in character. Morfin should be fun to write.

Yellow-Green

It was a horrible mind. A sore yellow-greenish color that seemed to be rotten. Morfin really was insane. Ron wasn't bad with the mind reading, like Harry it was the mind blocking he had trouble with, luckily he couldn't be harmed from the dying mind latching on to his because he now had the 'god given gift' of blocking his mind. Still having to sift though the sludge to get the needed information was difficult.

He needed to know Morfin's age and his mother's name and if they had always lived in the hovel. Here was the first problem Morfin was 36. Ron was 23. They needed to change both of their ages if they were to have been even slightly close. He supposed he could make Morfin 30 and himself 28. Morfin didn't know his mother's name, he's father had simply called her the 'Bitch' because it seemed that she had left him after Merope was born. She was of course pureblood. Sadly they had always lived in the hovel.

Deciding that there wasn't really anything to work with to make Morfin feel any brotherly love for him, he certainly never cared for his sister Ron made the choice to delete the almost the man's entire mind. It was much harder than a simple Oblivate. Ron would delete almost everything except for body functions like walking, and using the bathroom, he would leave him his very few happy memories that did not involve violence, a few of his father were man wasn't doing much of anything., one of his father being yelling because he did need to know what kind of man he was, some of his sister that he would manipulate so Morfin thought he felt love and affection for his sister. Ron would implant his fake age and of course a few memories of himself. Before could do that however he had to make sure they looked at least a bit like each other.

Doing that would tire out fast him so first he drug the filthy man to the bathroom where he shot as many cleaning spells that he could remember at the man. Then he put him in a bubble head charm and levitated him into a large tub of soapy water. He had never seen a dirtier man than this one. The bath water was soon to turn brown and Ron refilled the tub 3 times before he was satisfied that he could touch the man without catching something.

He got the man out of the tub, vanished his clothes, which he had refused to remove until the man was at least slightly clean. He sent cutting spells at the man's mangled dark hair and then dunked him back into the water. When the man was clean and dressed and unconscious again Ron looked at the man's face.

"How in hell am I supposed to look like that without looking like a deformed half house elf?"

"Well?" You never got an answer when you were the one that wanted to talk to otherworldly beings.

"And there's the owl with a letter again. Don't you ever get tired?" He asked the owl. The owl did not respond.


	14. Orange

Sorry I've not been updating for a while. I felt the need to go back to my other story for awhile. I got inspiration for this one again so I'll try and keep to my former updating speed.

Keep in mind it's close to Christmas so I might be too busy to update daily, but I shall try to do so.

Orange.

_I'm a relative who would have adopted you years ago if I had known of your existence. As it is I cannot act right now. My name is Ronald Gaunt. I am your mother's brother._

_I will send the owl with you; you may write me if you have need of something._

I'm a relative. A relative. Nothing else about the letter mattered. He had a relative and he hadn't come to get him. A relative that was better off than he was or he wouldn't have been able to send him a sweater. A relative, an Uncle in fact. Unlike all the other children who had no family at all, he did have family. He had an Uncle who it seemed didn't want him. It shouldn't have hurt. He had expected it, if he had any family that they hadn't wanted him so why should it matter?

That man, his Uncle, he said he hadn't known about him before, but that didn't excuse him now. He was here. He was right outside the window, but he didn't come to get him. Hurt soon become anger. 'Cannot act right now'? Of course he could have bloody well have acted! There were no excuses for that. He should have come in and taken him away when he first saw him He should have!

After awhile he calmed. He ran his hand gently over his new sweater. It was warm. Why would the man send him anything? If he was not wanted why would he bother? Some kind of mind game perhaps. A twisted sneer marked the boy's face. Perhaps he thought it was funny? Soon all expression left his face and he reread the letter once again.

_I will send the owl with you; you may write me if you have need of something._

Have need of something? Of course he had been of something. He had need of more food and better clothes and most importantly a better shelter then this miserable orphanage. He reached for paper and then hesitated. Did that mean the owl would stay? He looked at it. He had never had a pet for he was certain the adults would kill any of the snakes that he spoke to outside, if he ever dared to bring one in.

That most likely wasn't what his 'Uncle' has meant at all. Just that he would be able to use the owl for awhile as long as Mr. Gaunt wished to speck with him. He didn't mind the owls company. It was certainly pretty to look at. It's dark feathers and slightly orange peak gave more color to the world of grey. Along with the sweater it wasn't quite as stifling in here as it was before. Very well he would play this man's game.

He would be a polite and native orphan that would only too happy to forgive his dear uncle. After the man had paid a price of course. In doing so he would be able to keep the owl with him longer and he might be able to guilt the man into getting him more gifts like the sliver sweater. Of course he would never really forgive the man. Worse than not taking him in was the fact that he was writing to him. That he was letting him know that he was aware that Tom was in a place like this and that for whatever reason he wasn't important enough bring into his home.

As he wrote his response he couldn't help, but deiced that polite and native could come later. It was of course natural that he would be disbelieving and miffed at first. Besides it eased the pressure in his chest he had felt when he first saw the word relative. It felt good to ask the question even if he didn't expect an answer even close to acceptable.


	15. Pale yellow

Pale Yellow

The owl would wait. Right now Ron was going to fix himself a sandwich and stare at himself in the mirror for a bit. Ron and Morfin needed at least some family resemblance, even it was just having the same nose or eyebrows or something, but god that man was ugly. Unlike glammer transfiguration could be permeate if you did it right so maybe he could give Morfin some of his features and then redo his own face after the ritual? Or maybe he could make the ritual a bit more equal than he had planned both making himself a Gaunt and Morfin a Weasley?

Now that was an unpleasant thought, but he couldn't look like a deformed pureblood if he wanted anyone to not look at him with disgust, much less Tom. From what he heard from Harry Tom had been a handsome as well as charismatic student. Followers were easier to gain with a pretty face at least until you got the reputation to back yourself up. That's why this was a big deal. It had nothing to do with the fact that it would decrease his ability to get laid. Not at all.

Actually as Morfin didn't know who his mother was and Ron was a pureblood he could use the slightly less complicated ritual which could give them Morfin's father and Ron's mother. In fact as his parents had been blood traitors for centuries there was a good chance Ron's blood would fix some of Morfin's problems. Like being ugly and crazy for example. Of course if anyone did try to test their blood it would show his mother's maiden name, however based off of family reunions there was enough relatives on his mother's side of the family that no one would be surprised if a new relative popped up.

Ron couldn't help, but be pleased that he would be able to keep his mother's blood. There was nothing he could do about his name, but at least he would still have some traits from one of his parents.

He would make a few minor changes to the ritual and then perform it. Well perhaps he would go over the changes today and do the ritual tomorrow. It was getting late and he was drained after the metal battle though a rotted mind. The owl gave a loud call and he was forced to turn his attention to the letter from Tom.

"Alright. I hear you. Let's see it then." The owl cuffed him on the head as if flew by after giving him the letter. Ron distractedly wondered if Tom had named the owl yet as he slowly lifted the paper at an angle to better see it in the light. The paper Tom was using was a pale yellow color. Muggle paper was much more like parchment in this time period then it would be in the future. Or perhaps it was simply of very poor quality.


	16. Navy

Well this has been a very long time in coming. Won't give any excuses and no promises that I will be updating anymore often than when the mood hits.

Navy

He supposed that possible death was a fairly decent excuse, but only if it was true and there was really no way to know for certain it if was true or not. Certainly he didn't trust this strange relative he had never really met, however…well there was nothing else to go on for figuring this out other than the man's written word.

_I am sorry both that I only found you recently and that I cannot come get you right now. Part of the reason I cannot involves my brother your other uncle Morfin, who is not sane, is living with me right now, and well he likes me and he still attacked me with a knife this morning. I am trying to find a way for him to regain his sanity, but at the moment that is not going so well. I'm sure life is not pleasant for you at the moment, but unless you are you being physically hurt I cannot justify bringing you into a home where my brother would try to kill you._

First an apology which was strange enough in itself, because no one ever apologized to him anyway. Then talking about another uncle which ought to have some semblance of truth, because who just invents an insane brother? Of course there was a lie somewhere, but without more information he was at a dead end.

That last line, did that mean he would remove him from the orphanage if he conducted a way to sustain injury? How serious an injury? Would that be worth it if it worked? Of course that was just a faint hope because likely all that would occur is he would be both disappointed and hurt if he injured himself. His uncle was selfish and would not take him from here until the man was ready to do so. That statement felt true, but still left him confused on why he was bothering with Tom anyway.

Tom spent hours analyzing the letter. Certain words jumped out at him. Certain things he couldn't stop dwelling on.

_my brother into any kind of institution_

He had been threatened with being put in an institution before, a mad house.

_Control animals or make people hurt that hurt you?_

_only one family that can speak the serpent's tongue_

_find proof of that in Diagon __Alley_

What did this mean? He started at the words on the parchment, a dark navy blue color until they were imprinted on his eyelids.

Maybe, just maybe he wasn't completely alone. Finally he focused on the only relative aspect of the letter, the only thing that should really mean anything certain.

_Food, clothes, books_

Yes let's see exactly how much you're willing to make things up to me Mr. Gaunt.


End file.
